This is an extract from Auntie Beeb’s web report on the health of Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro (key words underlined):

‘Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro is in a serious condition following three failed operations, according to Spain’s El Pais newspaper.’

Yet the very same BBC website reported the death of Augusto Pinochet last December in the following way:

‘Chile’s former military leader Augusto Pinochet has died in hospital aged 91. He had been thought to be recovering after a heart attack a week ago.’

So when is one dictator elevated to the rank of military leader, whilst the other continues to languish in the quagmire of journalistic ideological mediocrity associated with the everyday term ‘leader’? Elementary! It’s when one trangresses the cardinal ‘virtue’ of being as Left as Left can be.

I note that the UK’s rate of inflation has jumped to 3% in December, according to the latest set of official figures. The rise in the Consumer Prices Index, up from a rate of 2.7% in November, was at the top end of expectations. The increase, taking the rate to an 11-year high – had been widely expected following last week’s shock rise in UK interest rates to 5.25%.

There is a secondary point here – and it relates to Gordon Brown’s tenure as Chancellor of the Exchequer. His profligacy on spending when it comes to the Public Sector and the vast expansion of this knows no bounds, and there was always going to be pay-back in the real world. Now we see it. Brown wants out of the Exchequer before the brown stuff hits the financial fan. I think we can all now see why.

Here’s an interesting story that the MSM have largely ignored…..from the Irish Independent.

AT least one Catholic priest in Northern Ireland administered "last rites" to people who were "executed" by the IRA including some of those who were disappeared and whose bodies have never been recovered, it has been learned. The revelation comes as appeals are again being made by the Independent Commission set up to try and locate the remains of nine men whose bodies have never been recovered. Seven of those still missing were murdered by the IRA and one by the Irish National Liberation Army.

Seamus McKendry, whose mother-in-law was Jean McConville, confirmed yesterday that he had been told that priests had administered last rites to people who were about to be murdered by the IRA. "When I was making inquiries in the early days, that was often mentioned to me. They got the last rites. It was said: ‘What’s the problem? Sure, they got the last rites’. They were God’s henchmen." One of the victims, who disappeared from west Belfast in 1981, was last seen kneeling on waste ground on the outskirts Of west Belfast as the priest administered the rites to him.

God’s henchmen? Is that how Republican murderers viewed Priests who co-operated with them in providing the Lat Rites to their victims? Do we need an enquiry into this? Was the RC Clergy working with the terrorists in providing this "service"?

Who is surprised to discover that Lottery money has been poured into Labour heartlands at the expense of Conservative areas? New research has revealed that on average, Tory-held constituencies received almost £11 million less than their Labour counterparts!

Labour strongholds raked in almost TWICE AS MUCH in health, education and environment grants – which critics argue should be paid for out of general taxation. Overall, Tory seats should have received an extra £2.2billion between 1995 and 2007 to match levels in Labour areas, according to a detailed study by the Conservative party. Opposition MPs have accused the Government of ‘grand larceny’ on the lottery by changing the rules on how money is handed out.

This Labour rabble in power will do EVERYTHING possible to remain in power. You can bet on that!

It saddens me more than anything else to read DUP Leader Ian Paisley praising Sinn Fein/IRA’s {or "Sinn Fein" as he now prefers to call them, 😉 } utterly cynical ploy to call a conference to consider the possibility of them "supporting policing."

Look, no normal political party should be praised for endorsing the rule of law. It should be a given. It should be expected. Only freaks like Sinn Fein/IRA have to think about this.

When Sinn Fein/IRA hold their wretched conference, and then – ring out the bells and declare a seismic shift – declare to a panting lapdog MSM that on the basis of this that and the other, they will endorse the PSNI – so what? I fail to see what Paisley is welcoming here, other than the fact that the DUP (or a section therein) have set up this "endorsement of policing" as the BAR for Republicans to meet, when in fact it is a big nothing.

Jim Allister – a senior DUP delegate – has set up much more robust test for Republicans. I endorse his views fully and am disappointed that Dr. Paisley feels the need to praise contrived republican cynicism.

The BBC reports that United Nations and European Union “leaders” have condemned the lawfully brought about executions in Baghdad of two of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein’s top aides. UN chief Ban Ki-moon said he regretted the move, while a top EU official said it had damaged Iraqi reconciliation.

Total rubbish. These two thugs got all they deserved, and the fact that Barzan Ibrahim was decapitated during his hanging is of no importance. It is a distraction from the central fact that these guys were monsters, who gleefully brought about the death of innocents.

The EU is institutionally opposed to capital punishment and seeks to IMPOSE its values on other non-EU nations. The new UN Chief, Ban ki-Moon actually dealt with the execution of Saddam rather well, making it clear that it was a matter for Iraq as to how it dealt with this tyrant. Clearly, he appears to reverting to UN form on this, with the MSM using his comments to further it’s rancid anti-capital punishment agenda.

Bottom-line; these guys lorded it over the deaths of thousands. They have paid the price for doing so. Justice is done. The UN and EU can go hang.

Islam has a big problem. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say Islam IS a big problem.

Following on from Mike’s post last evening, I wanted to make a few observations concerning the content of the Channel 4 programme "Undercover Mosque" which exposed the hatred being taught in allegedly "moderate" Mosques in the UK. Three points for you;

1. Islam, as portrayed in this programme, appears totally incompatible with our value system. The contempt that the Islamic Imams have for democracy comes as no surprise to those of us who continually attack militant Islam, but perhaps the more profound question is whether "moderate Muslims" are capable of withstanding the onslaught of the Wahhabbi preachers.

2. Militant Islam is LAUGHING at the pathetic attempts of Government to deal with it. Pious words concerning "inclusivity" and "cross-community" are trotted out to assuage foolish UK Ministers and self-loathing liberals. It was clear last night that a significant section of Islam views Christians, Jews and Atheists as sub-human. (Not sure what they make of Sciencetologists mind!)

3. Jihad has to be stopped. Dead. Anyone who preaches it in any way must be imprisoned. Any Mosque which facilitates it must be closed, or better still demolished. Any foreign countries which provide finance, communications or any other form of support, need to be tackled head-on. Saudi Arabia is NOT our friend, it is our enemy, and the fact that it’s Oil Reserves are of such importance to the global economy provides the Wahhabbi sect with the finance it requires to spread its evil gospel. This cannot be ignored and we need to confront – not appease – Saudi.

It is always important not to generalise based on any TV programme but the fact is that Islam represents a profound threat to liberty in the UK and that it’s Dark Ages mindset can no longer be tolerated. Several of its preachers are preparing impressionable British Muslims for Jihad against this State, it seeks to subvert the UK by using our innate tolerance to fan the flames of hatred.

Islam demands that we submit to it. I say Islam must submit to the values of our western democracy. There is no middle ground. The question is; which side will prevail.

We try and cover many different issues here on ATW. For me, there is no greater issue than the retention of the Union in ALL FOUR of its component parts. Yes I have strong opinions on Europe, Islam, the protection of Israel, our ties with America and the Commonwealth, transport and the operation of the economy. Nevertheless, each pales into insignificance when it comes to my conviction on the need to keep my country together as one functioning unit.

This, the 300th anniversary of the first Act of Union, should allow us to think about the UK and what it has achieved. It once ruled the world and, as recently as the end of the First World War, was considered the only global superpower. It created the largest Empire the world has ever seen and, in contrast to many other imperial ventures by our European neighbours, did far more good than ever it did harm to the countries which submitted to its control (whatever you may think about the principle of empire, that is a fact). Today, there is nothing equivalent to the Commonwealth for the former conquests of France, Spain or the Netherlands. Not only did the United Kingdom build much of the infrastructure in its imperial backyard, it also forged great and significant ties with countries never under its colonial stewardship. The two best examples of this are Argentina and Chile, where the railways, roads, agriculture and naval strengths of those two countries were created and built by the British – not the Spanish. Even as recently as the early 20th century, more people in Argentina spoke English and Italian than Spanish.

In the 21st Century, the UK is still a global player and is one of only 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council. It is Europe’s (excluding Russia) foremost military power and has ties to the United States unequalled by any other country. The importance of this alliance cannot be underestimated for anyone who has lived through WW2 or has seen the global ventures undertaken by ourselves and the Americans since that time. The United Kingdom has given the world the English language, the business lingua franca. Although Mandarin and, since 1999 Spanish, are spoken by more individuals than English, it is still the world’s most important language. No less than 27% of the countries of the world have English as an official language and in others, such as Holland, Sweden and Denmark, English is understood by over 60% of the population.

Our United Kingdom has pioneered arts, modern music, legal institutions and inventions far out of proportion to its size. It has given the world items from the lawn mower to the umbrella. Britain remains one of the largest economies and has the most important city on the planet as its capital. It is culturally, socially, emotionally and economically intertwined between its four components. Unlike many other countries, the territorial unit did not come first. Our country is a formal legal expression of the internal ties it has developed throughout history. And it would be inevitably weaker as a result of losing even one of those parts.

Which brings me to the final part of this piece. Our United Kingdom has been periodically under threat from Irish insurrection since 1921. It has more recently been attacked by the petulant voices of Scottish and, to a lesser extent Welsh, separatism. However, it has endured notwithstanding these attempts. No opinion poll in Northern Ireland has ever even come close to suggesting that it requires a divorce from the Union. If the results of this poll are to be believed, there is no similar desire amongst the three parts of the mainland, either. So today, on this 300th birthday celebration, we raise our glasses to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (which is also the longest official name of any country in the world) and hope it survives for another 3 centuries.

UPDATE:I found this article on the legal moves necessary to grant Scottish separation interesting. Contrary to Irish nationalist assertions, the exact same procedure would be necessary for Northern Ireland. The ONLY difference between the two is that Parliament at Westminster is not compelled to hold a referendum on separation in the event of a nationalist majority in Scotland as it is in NI. However, Parliament also has the legal and constitutional right to vote down the results of a NI referendum, as has the right of Dail Eireann to refuse the annexation of NI within its territorial remit. Both decisions would be valid in international law.

1572 – Thomas Howard, the Fourth Duke of Norfolk, is tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England. He is later executed at the Tower of London.

1707 – The Act of Union between England and Scotland if formally ratified.

1919 – The 18th Amendment to the US Constitution, prohibiting the ‘manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes’, achieves the necessary two-thirds majority for state ratification, and thus becomes the law of the land.

1981 – The Northern Ireland nationalist agitator and former Westminster MP Bernadette McAliskey and her husband are shot by gunmen who burst into their home in County Tyrone.

1988 – Death of actor Ballard Berkeley at the age of 83. He is best known for playing the part of the Major in the BBC classic comedy Fawlty Towers.

2006 – Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is inaugurated as Liberia’s new president. She is the first elected female Head of State in Africa.

You do not defeat terrorism by rewarding terrorists, regardless of how many bleeding heart liberals argue otherwise. Want to know where that flawed approach leads to? Read UNIONISM DECAYED 1997-2007 - It's my first book and it explains what happens when you seeek to appease terrorists and call it peace. It's available right now for ATW readers so make sure you get your copy by emailing the editor! This is the book that dissents from the herd mentality that doing wrong can lead to being right. It doesn't and this book spells out WHY.

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